The Abbey Gate College Choir Return To St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Published on 24th April 2024
On Monday 22nd April, the College chapel choir sang evensong at St Paul’s cathedral in London.
Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles, and at St Paul’s, it is usually sung by the Cathedral’s own choir.
They travelled down on the day, aiming for London at lunchtime, and began our rehearsal at 2:30. With several pieces of music to rehearse, as well as procession rehearsals and time needed to robe, the afternoon passed quickly and they were soon lining up in the ‘Dean’s Aisle’ ready to process in.
Accompanied by John Hosking – organist of Blackburn Cathedral, we sang canticles by Dyson, as well as the responses and psalm appointed for the evening. The choir ended the service with ‘Give us the wings of Faith’ by Earnest Bullock.
With a reverberation time of over 7 seconds, the choir sounded very impressive in the amazing setting and pupils were inspired by the sound.
The cantor, himself a vicar choral of the Cathedral, commented on the choir’s ability, especially praising their psalmody and how together and accurate they were.
Mr Andrews, Head of Music and Choir Director, said “I am incredibly proud of the students and their achievement. The sound was very professional, and their performance was highly polished. Their behaviour was execeptional and they represented the College extremely well.”
We wait now, to see if the invitation is extended again, next year!